Nearly everybody uses cloud services these days, to some varying degree. It's almost unavoidable at this point; the moment you set up an Android phone, it prompts you to create a Gmail account in order to download apps, then proceeds to automatically back up your contacts and other information to the cloud. The same goes for Apple's iCloud service, and Microsoft's OneDrive as well. At any given moment, your phone could even be uploading your photos to the cloud, if you have such a feature enabled on your phone. Even if you try your best to avoid it, it's likely that you have some ...

What happened to Google's plans to re-tool Android photo backup, moving away from Google+ and towards Google Drive, as we've been hearing rumored recently? Word was, this change was likely to take place last week, but the weekend arrived without any obvious motion in that direction? Well, the ETA may have been a little off, but today we finally see the news made official, as Google explains just how this shift will work. Google Drive picks up a new Photos section, where you'll now be able to find pics previously saved with Google+ Photos. But Google's not getting rid of Google+ Photos, ...

Google's got a new update to Drive for Android out this week, delivering things like a more Lollipop-friendly UI and a neat drag-and-drop file management tool (above). That's well and good, but the more interesting stuff may be taking place behind the scenes, and a new teardown points to work on a couple pretty compelling changes. Drive is a convenient place to store your media, and while Google already gives you tools to access photos, audio, and video from within Drive, that support doesn't go quite as far as you might like it to: as of now, there's no way to interact with a Chromecast ...

Are you doing all you can to make sure that your data's secure? From verifying your contact info to setting up two-factor authentication, there are probably lots of things you could be taking advantage of in order to limit your vulnerability, but all the security features in the world won't do you much good if you're not taking advantage of them. Google doesn't want to see you losing your data any more than you do, so it's dangling a bit of a carrot in an effort to encourage you to think about you account's security, offering a boost to your Google Drive allocation as an incentive. By ...

Storing sensitive data in the cloud has always been questionable. Over the weekend we learned just how "sensitive" that data can be. Just in case you were on vacation, unplugged from technology, and haven't heard the news, reportedly dozens of celebrities had their iCloud accounts hacked and nude photos stolen and posted publicly on the Internet. While some may celebrate this as a triumph, it's really a horrifying violation of privacy. How would you feel if the leaked images were of your spouse, your child, or your parent? Basically, what's being reported is that some "celebrities" used ...

It's hard not to commend Google for the job the company has been doing in enhancing the services we consume through Android and even iOS at times. We've seen frequent updates to services like Google Now and YouTube over the last couple of weeks, and today Gmail takes a turn at some enhancements. The company is pushing an update that will provide you with a couple of new enhancements, including some Google Drive integration. The way Gmail and Google Drive will work together going forward is that you can attach Google Drive files easily while you're composing an email. Google will then ...

Three weeks back we learned about a problem that was affecting new owners of the HTC One M8, but only those picking up the phone for AT&T. You see, HTC had promoted the One M8 as coming with a number of perks, including access to 50GB of free Google Drive storage for the next two years. We certainly wouldn't buy the One M8 solely because of this promotion, but it was a nice touch, so why not take advantage of it? Problem was, the deal didn't seem to be working, and HTC confirmed that a “minor technical error” was getting in the way of redemption. HTC promised a fix in mid-May, and ...

Late last month, we saw Google release stand-alone Docs and Sheets apps, with the promise of a third, Slides, on its way. These were designed to give users extended document creation and editing abilities beyond those already present in Google Drive. Sure, the idea of juggling multiple apps instead of doing everything from Drive might sound a little cumbersome, but we always like seeing companies giving smartphone users more options. As it turns out, though, the introduction of Docs and Sheets isn't so much an alternate way to work with their respective files, but the only one going ...

Update: Apps also available for Android. Remember, the existing Drive app used to be Docs (and it's still using the "com.google.android.apps.docs" identifier), but this marks the return of Docs to Android as a stand-alone app. Update 2: Now we've got Google's official statement, along with word that a third app, Slides, is on its way soon. Is Google feeling a little pressure from Microsoft with the release of Office for the iPad last month? It used to be that if you wanted to access documents stored in Google's cloud from iOS devices, you'd fire-up Google Drive, or make do with Google's ...

Google is having a busy day when it comes to Android apps, with update after update hitting the Play Store. A little earlier we told you about the changes to Google Search, and what that meant for the Nexus 5's launcher, but that's merely the tip of the iceberg. We've also spotted updates going out for a number of additional apps, so let's take a moment to look at what's new: Maps's official changelog just mentions bugfixes, but it also delivers changes to how it presents Offers, and routing controls get some expanded options for both preferences and things to avoid. Drive sees the arrival ...

Watch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about LG's new Optimus GJ and what's different from the previous Optimus G, if there really is any difference. Then we talk about Microsoft and how it had to water-down its YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 due to a petition from Google. Speaking of Google, their new Google Drive is next as it got significantly revamped in mobile. The Nokia EOS project is next as we go through a possible launch date. We end today's show talking about how the news show an HTC quietly sinking due to some major departures in their staff. All this and more after the ...

Google is on a bit of a tear lately, updating apps and services across the board. We follow up the recent changes to Google+ with an update for the Android Drive app, giving the program a new look. The Now-ification of Google apps continues with Drive's new card-based layout. You can swipe these around to navigate through your shared files, and there's a new quick preview mode. For those of you who like to work with documents on your phone – and not just view them – the new Drive gains some additional editing tools. When working with spreadsheets, you can now adjust cell alignment and ...

Watch today's Pocketnow Daily as we go through the recent changes to Google Drive, which do matter for most of us. Then we talk about the Galaxy Note II and its appearance in Verizon's network. Microsoft later shows us their ugliest application yet with the Outlook.com service for Android. Then we continue with Microsoft, though this time we talk about Windows Phone 7.8 and it's promised release season, because as always, they didn't include specific dates. We end today's show talking about Steve Ballmer's recent chat regarding Windows Phone 8 sales, which are apparently better, even ...